She mistakes the glint in his eye for kindness. Misjudges the way he shares a gentle breath with her to mean that he is harmless. She does not think to expect cruelty from him, having seen only the good in Rougaru.
Sonorae smiles at his first comment, her eyes crinkling sweetly at the corners. Like a fool, she walks into the trap he has lain without even waiting for him to bait it first. Blindly trusting, she dips her pale lips to the water and drinks deeply of the water beneath their hooves. It occurs to her that the water is not so sweet as he claims, but she has hardly a moment to comprehend his next question before her life implodes.
"Oh?" She offers almost as a question, her brow furrowed as she brings her head upward to face him. In truth, she hadn't thought the water was that sweet, but she was genuinely curious as to what this man found sweet to eat in the middle of Fall. It was so nice to meet a friendly equine that the last thing she wanted to do was to chase him away. Even as he steps backward, away from their conversation, Sonorae does not step away. She watches with wide, brown eyes, thinking that perhaps he will simply show her what it is that he liked.
It is when his face changes that she realizes her peril.
It when he steps forward as she freezes in fear that she realizes, far too late, what had been on his mind this entire time.
Sonorae barely manages a whimper before he takes what is not his and shreds the meager confidence she had been able to build.
She holds her breath and trembles beneath his onslaught and knows, again, what it is to taste fear.
When he is done and her world is shattered, Sonorae does not stay to speak with him. This man is no Rougaru. Once his weight leaves her back she does what she should have done in the first place and flees, as fast, and as far as she can from patchwork stallion. She does not look back. Does not say goodbye. Does not make a sound beyond the thud of her hoofbeats over the racing of her heart.
She heads home, to the one who might be able to take away this pain.
